This week I’d love to take a poll on a highly speculative, but nonetheless interesting, question. Is the iPad the final new product from Apple?

First, I should probably clarify the question a little.

I was inspired to create this poll after reading a fascinating article on Cult of Mac that makes a strong statement with its title; iPod. iPhone. iPad. Why Apple is Done Inventing New Devices.

By new devices (or products) I don’t mean the further iterations or development in existing spaces, such as the desktop or mobile phone, but rather the creation of entirely new categories of product. Such as the iPad and its creation of the spuriously named ‘Tablet Market’ (many have argued that there is really only an ‘iPad Market’ at the moment).

Do you think that Apple will now continue to push the bounds in its current areas of influence and leave pushing into new areas aside? Or, is it short-sighted to think that a company such as Apple won’t break ground in ways we can’t yet envisage?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Log your answer and perhaps send a few words this way as well!

There has already been considerable debate over the value of embracing emerging technology in education, particularly the use of iPads in schools, but is this debate simply over method or is there something more drastic taking place?

If the use of iPads can significantly improve the engagement of students, and increase their ability to explore subjects and develop in their learning, then are we doing them a disservice by being slow on the uptake?

Is the iPad a frivolous toy that would be misused and a drain on limited school budgets, or is it a bridge between the classroom and the world? One school in Northern Ireland has began a brave move to put an iPad into the hands of every student, is this the start of something…

Recently there have been a few polls on here that have excluded people not in possession of an iPad 2, and for that I’m sorry. This week I’m going to make up for it, however, with a chance for you to give the main reason behind not purchasing Apple’s most recent technological marvel (excuse the hyperbole).

If you’re a proud owner of the original iPad I commend your decision not to upgrade, the iPad 2 is excellent, but so was the original. The differences are rather small considering the minimum $499 spend.

Is your reason purely financial, are you saving pennies in a jar right now?

What I’m more interested in are the specific reasons why people have passed on the iPad 2, especially if they’re considering the competition. The hot discussion last week was over the iPad 2’s cameras, was that your reason?

I can see good reasons to wait for the iPad 3, especially if you have an original iPad; the possibility of a retina display alone would have many iPhone 4 users on the edge of their seats.

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts – simply post a comment below! What was the reason you decided not to buy an iPad 2?

Last week the legal spat between Apple and Samsung reached a new and unexpected level. Following a district court ruling in Düsseldorf, Germany, Samsung were forbidden from selling their new Honeycomb-based tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in all EU countries apart from the Netherlands due to copyright infringements.

Apple claim that the physical design of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 violates the iPad 2 design patents and has demanded that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 units are pulled off the shelves until the case is resolved. Samsung faces a hefty €250,000 (around $360,000) fine if they disobey the court ruling.

It’s kinda crazy to think, but our little internet startup, Envato, has been on the air now for five years. We started back in 2006 as four very enthusiastic and totally green entrepreneurs with a shoestring budget and a love of the web. Fast forward five years and while we’re hopefully a little less green, we’re still incredibly passionate about Education, Marketplaces and the web! It’s been an amazing time and we’d like to share a look inside our Melbourne HQ offices, some stats about Envato and a big thank you to the community.

This week I’m on a mission to find out what type of iPad case is most popular among the discerning readers of iPad.AppStorm. I’m sure most of us will have a case that we use from time to time to protect the iPad in transit, but which type is the most prevalent?

For the sake of simplicity I’ve taken the executive decision to exclude the Smart Cover from the equation, I was coming up with far too many variables! In my mind if you have an iPad 2 you almost definitely have, and use, the Smart Cover and if you don’t, you don’t.

Besides, you probably use a case in addition to the iPad – I just wouldn’t feel comfortable putting my iPad in my bag with just its (expensive) Smart Cover on.

I know that when I first got an iPad I had a hard time deciding what case would be the right one for me, I’m fortunate that I chose wisely – I’ve only ever bought one zip case and it fits the iPad 2 and Smart Cover like a dream.

Did you face a case dilemma? What did you go with? I seriously have no idea what will come out on top here!

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts, especially if you have a case that fits none of the descriptions!

Winners Announced

Thanks to everyone who took part in the giveaway this week, and special thanks to the kind people at Readdle! I’m excited to let you know that the winners have now been chosen. Congratulations are in order to:

Eric
Nate
Stephanie

Well done to the lucky winners, and we’ll be in touch soon. Sorry to those who missed out, be sure to check back for more great competitions!

Old Competition Post

This week the organised among you should be rejoicing, we have a great calendar app, namely Calendars, up for grabs! The kind people at Readdle have given us 3 promo codes to giveaway to some lucky readers, scroll down to see how to enter.

Calendars an elegant and easy way to use Google calendar on your iPad, and allows you to manage your calendars online and offline. It has an unique interface that allows you to move events with simple drag and drop, and navigate between days, weeks, and months, just like in the Calendar application on the iPad.

It also allows you to add attendees to new and existing events -and save time with the history list, which lets you easily invite the same people again.

Many people wonder how they could justify the purpose of an iPad, not only to themselves but also to others (I’m sure there’s been many-a-spouse that was upset by the half-grand their significant other dropped on an iPad). Many reviews focus on the technical aspects of Apple’s game-changing tablet, but very few discuss how someone can work the iPad into an existing workflow.

With Apple’s announcement that the features in iCloud will be open to third party developers I thought now would be the perfect time to ask what apps you most want to see integrated with iCloud when it launches alongside iOS 5 this fall.

Some apps have already begun using syncing features by storing your information on their servers for use across multiple devices, but there are still a number of them that could greatly benefit from taking advantage of what iCloud offers.

I’ve put together a short list of apps that I think should take advantage of the wireless syncing service when it’s released.

It’s Envato’s 5th birthday and we’re ready to celebrate! With another year comes another Bundle, and this year’s Bundle is bigger and better than ever with over $500 ($507 in fact) worth of awesome files all for only $20!

With the recent public launch of Envato’s stock photography marketplace PhotoDune, we’ve been able to include even more great files. Our team have handpicked picked some super cool stuff from around the marketplaces and have worked tirelessly to cram them into our 5th Birthday Bundle. See the full list of files on the Birthday Bundle page!